


Encounter

by kronette



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 12:39:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/585514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kronette/pseuds/kronette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney hated waiting. He especially hated waiting when he’d been tapped to be on the team to explore the ancient outpost. He grunted his disapproval as someone sat next to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Encounter

Rodney hated waiting. He was into hour two of a flight delay due to mechanical problems – which meant someone hadn’t done their job correctly. Machines could only do what they were programmed to do, and they had to be taken care of. Idiots.  
   
He especially hated waiting when he’d been tapped to be on the team to explore the ancient outpost. No, not ancient; Ancient. A weapon of indescribable power that had been used to defend the planet. All confidential, of course, so he couldn’t read over his mission notes at the airport. Instead, he worked on theories, a paper on the applications of naquadah as alternate power source for general consumption, things that wouldn’t be understood by the mundanes around him.  
   
The constant sharp-accented Russian and Slovak was giving him a headache. Conversations washed over him ignorantly, as he never deemed the language worthy to be learned. He and the Russian scientists spoke the same universal language – science. Forcing his mind back on his work, he immersed himself until something moved out of the corner of his eye.  
   
He grunted his disapproval as someone sat next to him. He glanced around at the empty seats and made another displeased sound. Of all the places to have chosen, this person dared to sit next to him and disrupt his thought processes…it was then that Rodney noticed the other man wasn’t talking.  
   
The man was curled in on himself, eyes downcast. A laptop case rested between his feet. One of those silly furry hats obscured most of his facial features, but the glasses magnified the haunted eyes…  
   
Eyes? Rodney blinked. Had the guy been looking at him? He wasn’t now, having bent down to get his laptop out.  
   
Captivated for some reason, Rodney watched as the laptop was booted up and the other man bent over his work, Rodney forgetting about his own.  
   
Such intense focus – Rodney had been accused of that himself - that must be what he looked like. Fingers sure on the keys, eyes following the text as it appeared, mild frowning as a word or equation turned out incorrectly.  
   
Rodney chuckled, earning a glare from the other man, then something vaguely Russian-sounding, but not anything Rodney recognized – emanated from the thin lips.  
   
Rodney knew what it was like to be interrupted while configuring equations. “I’m sorry,” he offered, surprised that he meant it.  
   
Eyebrows rose to the bottom of the furry hat in surprise. “You are…American?”  
   
“No!” Rodney cried, aghast that anyone would confuse him with a lowly American. “Canadian.”  
   
A brief nod, then, “Apology accepted,” was whispered. Interest seemed to leave the other man as he returned his attention to his laptop.  
   
Seeing nothing further to distract him, Rodney turned again to his own laptop. He was mildly curious as to why he was so curious about this man. He was unremarkable in many ways. He’d not offered commentary on anything of value to Rodney so far, yet Rodney couldn’t quite focus on his work. He let out an exasperated breath as he tried three variations on an algorithm, but still didn’t come out with the result he should have.  
   
He jumped slightly as a slim finger pointed to certain sets of numbers on Rodney’s screen, and the softly accented voice of the other man murmured, “You need to change the order. Here and here.”  
   
That got Rodney’s full attention. He was working on complex algorithms, not something that just anyone with an advanced mathematics degree could understand. And this…man…had the gall to tell him how to correct it.  
   
Out of options, Rodney bit back a sigh of irritation and made the adjustments as directed. To his utter astonishment, the results matched. “Shit!” he exclaimed with a mix of glee and annoyance.  
   
Curiosity at its highest peak, Rodney took the time to look – really look – at the other man. Blue eyes were alight and twinkling now with knowledge shared. A face that had seen too many harsh winters, or just a harsh life, was made more remarkable by faint lines around the eyes and mouth. It was an intelligent face, highlighting the genius within – or so Rodney suspected. Too bad this guy wasn’t going to Antarctica – the man could be an asset to the team.  
   
“Thank you,” Rodney said sincerely, respect and a smile softened his features.  
   
The man shrugged nonchalantly. “You’re welcome.”  
   
Then, Rodney’s suspicious nature took over. The algorithm had to do with naquadah energy output as an alternate to nuclear energy. Did this guy know what he was working on? Was he going to Antarctica, too?  
   
“Where are you headed?” Rodney asked, deliberately trying not to be too overt with his questioning.  
   
Suspicion lit the other man’s eyes. “Australia.”  
   
“Huh.” Rodney also had a stopover in Australia, where the U. S. Air Force would have an escort waiting. He didn’t believe in the scientific validity of coincidence. His natural suspicion of everyone who wasn’t him warned him not to give away anything to this man.  
   
“Why?” Curiosity tried to hide the suspicion in the other man’s voice.  
   
Rodney quickly babbled, “Nothing. No reason. Just…I have a stopover in Australia as well.” He glared at the gate counter, where the airline personnel were chatting as though nothing were wrong. “Delays,” he said with annoyance, adding a light laugh to ease the tension.  
   
The other man grunted his agreement, and Rodney relaxed as the tension dissipated.  
   
The guy held out his hand. “Radek.”  
   
Rodney grasped the hand and replied, “Rodney.”  
   
With a small smile, Rodney turned back to his laptop, noting that Radek did the same. He hoped Radek – now almost positive he was a scientist going to the outpost – would be on his team. They could use a scientist like him.  
   
The End  


**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 12 June 2005 @ 10:37 pm under my other pseud, Shelley Wright. I wrote this whilst waiting for my delayed flight going to Media*West this year. Our flight was canceled, and I didn't get on the first flight going out, so I had to wait an extra three hours to get from Detroit to Lansing. That's just...sad.


End file.
